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5 Ways to Swing a Kettlebell

August 14, 2016 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

The kettlebell is literally the most underutilized tool in most commercial gyms. Many places have dozens of them, while other gyms have a shitty plastic one collecting spiderwebs in the corner.

Some gyms have none. Others have only kettlebells, and do all of their fitness related activities with that tool.

Still, very few people utilize its plethora of benefits to fitness. Below are some variations of this exercise which falls into the hip hinge family of fundamental human movement patterns.

The kettlebell swing is a way to train powerful hip extension, conditioning, and a silky smooth hip hinge pattern.

In my years of both training and coaching in a public gym setting, I have never seen a proper swing. I’ve seen folks who squat the swing, bend the swing, and do all kinds of other things in an attempt to swing, but never a true kettlebell swing.

The kb swing is an explosive hip drive with minimal knee bend and maximal hip bend. This is very similar to the deadlift, only faster, and with less load.

Here are 5 ways to train this incredible movement.

The Kettlebell Swing with a reset

This is the primary way I prefer to teach the swing right off the bat, when I feel a student can benefit from the kettlebell swing. The reset tends to teach how to create force out the hinge position from scratch. By stopping the momentum after each rep, you can feel the tension of the hinge longer, and hold a proper position out front to ensure proper bell path. Give these a try if you are just starting out, need to work on single rep explosion, or need to relearn the proper mechanics of the swing.

Kettlebell Swing vs. a Band

This is one of my favorites for a few reasons. The band adds significant resistance on the way to the top, so you have to recruit more power from your hips to achieve a good lockout position. The second reason I like the band around the bell is that from the top position, the band promotes a better hinge. If you try to squat it, the band will go slack, and will feel very awkward when trying to move back to lockout.

Single Arm Kettlebell Swing vs. Band

This is a nice progressions up from the double arm kb swing vs. band seen above this video. Anytime we are forced to generate more power from lower in the body, we put a premium on form and execution of the exercise. Since only one hand is guiding the kettlebell, it is essential that you explode out of the hinge position with fury and intent. The band will resist the top half of the movement before lockout, demanding that you accelerate to the top.

Single Arm Kettlebell Swing with a Hand Switch

This one involves a bit more coordination, but it’s a great way to challenge your athleticism as well as proper kettlebell path with a single arm. In any kettlebell swing variation, the arms are involved minimally. The more you can use the power of your posterior chain to drive out of the hinged position, the more efficient you’ll be. The transition at the top should be relatively easy, as the kettelbell should basically be floating and ready for you to catch it and sit back into your loaded position.

Double Kettlebell Swing

If you want to load up the swing, while getting into a sumo like deadlift stance, this kettlebell swing variation is for you. I’d never have anyone jump right into double kettlebell swings without mastering the single bell swing, just as I would have anyone swing the kettlebell without showing proficiency in the hinge and deadlift patterns first. This is a progression, and can be great at working on power development and work capacity from a sumo deadlift stance.

These are some of the more fun and challenging ways I enjoy swinging the kettlebell, along with programming them into strength and conditioning programs for clients.

If you have any questions, or wish to learn more, email us at showmestrength@gmail.com, or find us on our facebook, twitter, and instagram

Rookie Mistakes in Spring Training

February 19, 2016 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

The time is here. For a baseball fanatic this is the greatest time of the year, and the only month that will be filled only with promise and positivity.

The regular season, by nature is a roller coaster marathon ride that only the resilient survive, both fan and player.

In my eight seasons of professional baseball, I attended seven spring trainings. In each of them, I had just a bit more knowledge from the previous season to use to my advantage. I relied heavily on my failures to fuel how I would approach each new season.

The first taste of spring practice elicits emotion unlike any other. Players are eager as ever to show off their efforts of the offseason and prove themselves alongside the organization’s elite.

With spring training, however, comes a large window for athletes to misstep. This time of year is also the most riddled with injury, and for reasons beyond offseason preparation (although that’s a huge factor).

Below are three of the biggest mistakes baseball players make in spring training and spring practices. I offer solutions to these issues as always.

Mistake #1 – Too many players try to “be the hero” or make the team on day one

For young players in their first spring training or even veterans trying to secure a job, the first few weeks on the field can take a toll on the body if you’re not careful. If you think about it, athletes are going from the comforts of their own gym, own home, and own field, most likely throwing and practicing in comfortable shorts and t -shirts…to then all of a sudden being thrust into one of the most competitive and cutthroat months of training in professional sports.

Usually, for pitchers, a 30-50 pitch bullpen will be thrown in the first couple of days. I don’t care how much training you do in the offseason, the adrenaline won’t compare to throwing in front of your employer and the decision makers of your career. Too many guys will try to impress the instructors, front office, and fellow peers, which is all normal, but it will set you back if you wind up too sore or fatigued.

The same goes for position players. You, like the pitchers, should have busted your ass in the offseason to be capable of handling the physical demands of the spring, but you still need to be careful to not overdo it on the swings, the throwing, and fielding. Keep a good tempo, don’t blow out your arm, and don’t be someone you’re not. You don’t make the team on day one.

Solution – For pitchers, follow these three tips.

#1 – Don’t do anything more than what your off-season throwing program conditioned you for. For instance, if you have worked up to 200 feet in long toss, don’t move it out to 300 just because it looks impressive or you feel good. Have a plan and stick to it.

#2 – In your bullpens, keep your off-season preparation in mind. If you haven’t spun many breaking balls, don’t go out and show off by trying to rip a bunch of breakers off. Take it easy, take your sweet time, and work on one thing. Get a feel for the dirt, the spikes, and being outside. Focus on throwing a bunch of strikes.

#3 – In conditioning and the weight room, stick to a routine that will keep you fresh. Now is not the time to set personal records. It’s a time to stay explosive, refine what you did in the off-season, and continue getting better, not worse. Too many times, testosterone kicks in, and makes it tempting to show off in front of your teammates and buddies. Now’s not the time, guys. Being sore and tight is the worst thing you can be in spring training besides sidelined from injury. If you try to be the hero, you might just end up sitting on the sidelines or even worse, jobless.

Mistake #2 – Players deviate from their plan because of peer pressure, coaching pressure, or added competitive factors

Often times young or inexperienced players fall into different spring training traps. The biggest one comes from their peers and competition. Every other player at your position is your competition.

It’s only natural to try and out do the other guy in drills, conditioning, and other practice, however staying healthy is the absolute most important thing.

If you’re constantly worried about impressing and showing off, injury is bound to happen. Even though there quite possibly is job security on the line, it’s paramount that you are at your best for game time. While the coaches might be pleased to see the ball jump out of your hand in the bullpen or rocket off your bat in the cages, it doesn’t matter until you get in the game and on the field against opponents.

Solution – Focus hard on suppressing the desire to show off or give more effort than is normal for you. In all the drills, conditioning, and other activities, focus on execution. Don’t be temped to do extra work just for the hell of it.

Do what needs to be done, work on your weaknesses, and have a game plan before you get to the field. Ask yourself, “What can I get better at today?”

Also, take inventory on how you feel. If you’re run down a bit, take the necessary measures to warm-up and recover. Make sure you’re getting your rest, and show up to the field ready to perform.

Mistake #3 – The players physical preparation doesn’t match up to off-season

This is without question the biggest cause of injury in spring training or pre-season practices. Obviously, it is optimal to take complete advantage of every day in the off season to improve your body and game. The team expects you to show up in better condition than the previous season, and expects you to be free of injury.

With this being said, the weight training, conditioning, pre-hab, and recovery strategies should NOT do a complete 180 when you get to camp. If you haven’t squatted in the off-season, don’t go and squat just because your buddies are. Be very clear with the coaches and trainers about what you’ve done in the offseason, and be sure not to push it past the ideal volume point. Remember, it’s about feeling good, not showing off.

The same goes for the training room stuff. Don’t make it habit to hang out in there. If you weren’t doing a bunch of shoulder exercises, don’t start crushing those just because everyone else is. Do what make’s YOU perform at high level, and that’s it. More is the enemy in spring training. Optimal for you is the aim.

Solution – Cover all your bases to make sure you aren’t doing anything that will make your body hate you. Keep it a goal to maintain your mobility, strength, and conditioning levels, but don’t shoot to make gains anywhere unless it’s needed.

For instance, you might need to get your aerobic capacity up a bit, but don’t do it at a cost for on field performance. If running 20 sprints will get your conditioning level up, but hinder your body on the field, don’t do it. I understand that coaches will be in charge of telling you what to do, but auto regulate your own intensity and effort to keep your body feeling as fresh as possible.

Make sure also that you are eating just as well as the offseason, or at least to the best of your ability. Sometimes you’ll be on the field for hours on end, so the time at the hotel or away from the field is crucial for recovery and keeping the calories at the right level.

One of the worst things you can do is drastically change your body weight set point and lose performance. Wherever you feel best bodyweight wise, do whatever it takes to stay there.

These strategies are so crucial to keep in mind as you enter spring training or practice. I hope that you have prepared hard in the offseason, and continue to refine things in the spring.

This is NOT the time to try and get into shape.

It’s time to ramp slowly into game ready, season form. The only thing that matters is that you are healthy, feeling good, and performing at your best. The rest is eyewash. Cut out all the extra nonsense, and do whatever it takes to feel good everyday. For everyone, it’s completely different.

Remember, you don’t make the team on day one.

Good luck.

If any of you need guidance this spring, or this season, we are available to help. Learn more here

11 Ways to Goblet Squat

December 16, 2015 by Chad Rodgers 8 Comments

I am of the belief that no one, and I mean NO ONE is above the goblet squat. No one is too strong, too mobile, too in shape, or too advanced to grab a dumbbell or kettlebell and drop into the goblet squat.

Just about everyone I see as a personal training client will either perform goblet squat variations throughout their programming, or show me what they have for this movement as an assessment tool.

I even have my super advanced clients give me a few of these from time to time in a conditioning scenario so I can really see whats going on in their comfort zone of squatting.

The goblet squat showcases a plethora of information from a student to a teacher.

World renowned strength and conditioning coach, Dan John has been largely responsible for popularizing this fundamental movement pattern with load for people all along the spectrum of fitness and strength levels of advancement.

A couple of his most popular media publications on the topic can be found —-> here <— and —> here

But why the goblet squat??

Why not put the barbell on your back and just get down and dirty?

I agree that the family of barbell squat variation has it’s place, but when we look at the continuum of progressions and regressions in regards to the squat, the goblet squat reigns supreme as the largest bang for you buck for the majority fitness enthusiasts. I assess that too many people keep breaking down technique of the back and front squat when in reality, very few actual people are fit or confident enough to step under the bar at their local gym on their own.

My squat continuum is as follows for my students…

But before that, its important that I note each of them has a firm grasp of a proper squat before the even look at a barbell, and as I grow as a coach, I am more and more inclined to make people insanely good at the goblet squat before showing them how to approach and use the bar.

My Squat Continuum

NOVICE SQUAT VARIATIONS <—> Bodyweight Assisted Squat to elevation with Partner <—> TRX assisted squat <—> goblet squat variations with dumbbell, kettlebell, or small plate <—> offset and double kettlebell variations <—> zercher squat variation <—> front squat variations <—> back squat variations <—> ADVANCED SQUAT VARIATIONS

This is just the continuum that works for me, and I find it effective for most people with general goals of moving, looking, and feeling better. Some people are more well equipped and thrive with different loading strategies, but the goblet squat sits right in the middle and can cover more ground up and down the continuum of regression and progression.

Why is it so versatile?

1.) Loading it with a kettlebell or dumbbell doesn’t require the upper extremity mobility and strength that the back and front squat require. Therefore, just about anyone can start with one of the following variations and find success and training effect.

2.) By default, it locks in the anterior core, creating a spine thats closer to neutral and abs that mimic a more plank like engagement.

3.) It doesn’t require elite motion in the ankles, hips, and knees to get into proper position.

4.) Regressing back to a simpler variation or progressing to a more advanced technique in the goblet squat are easy changes to make happen.

5.) All you need for the basic goblet squat is a kettlebell or dumbbell.

6.) If the traditional barbell squat variations hurt or intimidate you, we can often get similar training effects from the goblet squat.

The real bottom line is that the squat is a fundamental human movement pattern that everyone who is born will need almost everyday throughout their lifetime. We use the squat to sit down, stand up, retrieve something from the ground, put something back on the ground, and effectively move through life.

It is my belief that we all should work on our squat patterning in some capacity nearly every single day to improve the quality of our lives.

The goblet squat truly is the most versatile way for the majority of this earth’s population to both strengthen this everyday movement that we need, and ensure we have the movement and stability to perform those everyday tasks throughout our lifetime.

Below are 11 ways you can goblet squat, with video demonstrations that provide optimal technique.

11 WAYS TO GOBLET SQUAT

1.) The Traditional Dumbbell Goblet Squat – Many times when a client comes to me without any history of pain, and appears to have a relatively decent level of fitness and strength, I will have them drop into a regular old dumbbell goblet squat with a lightish dumbbell. This shows me so much. I can see what their aptitude is for a good squat, as well as see joint restrictions and strength deficiencies. This squat here can be put into just about anyone’s strength and conditioning program and deliver a training effect. This video here displays the basic dumbell goblet squat which can be loaded as heavy as you can carry in this position with good posture. This means absolutely no leaning back into extension because it’s too heavy. Adjust reps and sets according to you goals and needs.

2.) The Paused Goblet Squat – I use this squat with many students who can definitely get into position, but need more strength and control throughout the entirety of the squat. When talking about owning your squat and not letting it get away from you in the hole, there’s arguably no better way to improve this deficiency than the paused squat. You can add in pauses anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds and get a solid result, but it’s important to identify your ideal depth before pausing, I suggest holding tension around parallel as shown in the video below.

3.) The Horizontal Kettlebell Goblet Squat – I found this techinique while experimenting with a client who had a pretty beat up wrist from golf. This woman was a competitive athlete, but didn’t quite have any true need whatsoever that warranted moving on to the barbell. She did however need to squat in some capacity to keep moving well and gain strength in her lower body. Every single way to hold on to the dumbbell hurt her wrist except this grip which she accidentally tried while moving the bell around. We didn’t have any sandbags, weighted vests, barbells, or medicine balls to load up the squat which she was prepared for, but this grip worked wonders. The bottom of the kettlebell rests against the sternum area, and the grip resembles a safety squat bar. Give it a try if you have a cranky wrist or just want to mix it up with the kettlebell placement.

4.) The Sideways Goblet Squat With Band – This has become a big hit with my female training population as I constantly strive to provide the biggest bang for their buck in terms of glute activation and development. By adding the band around the top of the feet for the lateral step, you immediately get the glute medius (outside part of the glutes) fired up before dropping into the hole of the goblet squat. If you do 5 or 6 steps and squats each way, you’ve got yourself a solid set of goblet squats with added ass engagement. Make sure the band is both not too strong where you can’t get into your optimal squat stance, but also not too light where it feels like a rubber band and doesn’t require any strength to get a step in.

5.) The Goblet Elevator Squat – This is an absolutely evil way to make the goblet squat harder and ensure constant tension throughout the movement. I tell my students to go up and down “3 floors” on the elevator. This means drop down into the bottom of the squat, come up a few inches to the first floor, then back to the “ground floor” or bottom of the squat again, up again close to the top…but not quite…then back to the bottom…then all the way back to the top or lock out position. That is one rep. Between 5-8 reps is plenty for this killer. I took this variation from Ben Bruno, who I think did this with front squats like the beast that he is.

6.) The Goblet Squat With Band Around Shins – Putting the band here is a wonderful teacher. I agree that the cue of screwing the feet outwardly into the floor and pushing the knees out can be useful for some folks, but putting another piece of equipment in the mix to add resistance against the internal caving of the knees can turn on those glutes and put you in a better situation to grove the squat pattern with optimal positioning. I will do this with folks who have a difficult time identifying what a good, strong squat should feel like, and for those struggling to drop the goblet squat optimally between the thighs without knees caving in. Those who have weak external hip rotators can benefit with this variation when they are ready.

7.) Goblet Squat with Slow Eccentric Control – The eccentric focus of the squat has gotten all of the attention recently and deservedly so. Great coaches around the world are sick and tired of athletes of all kinds loading up the bar without owning every inch of their depth into the hole of the squat. Think crossfit athletes with an ass that falls to the ground 2x speed after half a squat. Cal Dietz and the whole triphasic crew has done a absolutely fantastic job at breaking down the importance of eccentric variability in regards to athletic development. I strongly encourage you to check that shit out if becoming a more explosive athlete is what you’re in to. Either way, for strength gain, kinesthetic awareness, hypertrophy gains, and overall squat development, give these bad boys a try.

8.) The Kettlebell Goblet Squat With Lowering – This exercise was one that I stole from one of my former strength coaches, Tony Gentilcore. I love the two part component of this exercise, and I admittedly didn’t give it enough credit until I implemented them into my programming for a month. Once you really slow this exercise down, a couple of amazing things happen. For starters, you get to hang out at the bottom of your perfectly executed squat for a little while. This provides a ton of benefit in and of itself, but then you throw in the controlled kettlebell lowering, and your abs start working overtime. In a very similar fashion to the pulse, you put the weight further away from you center, forcing your whole body to resist the weight pulling you off line.

9.) The Kettlebell Goblet Squat With Pulse – This is an exercise that can be performed with either a light kettlebell or a 2.5-10lb plate. This is a fantastic variation that tends to be a perfect warmup or pre-work squat variation to prep for bigger loads. The stop at the bottom allows you to begin getting comfortable staying down there, in addition to owning the other variable, which is moving the load away from the body. Basically you are planking and squatting at the same time. What more could you want to get you want out of your pre-squat routine? I love programming this in for folks who aren’t natural squatters, but have the awareness, the stability, and the mobility to get down in this position after getting their body temp ramped up. Throw these in if you need more anterior core stability or want to feel yourself own that bottom position even more.

10.) The Goblet Squat to a Box – This is another excellent teaching tool to program into you or your clients beoginner progarams to identify appropriate depth. Often times you’ll have situations where you or your student has the capability to achieve and perform proper squats, yet the lack the body awareness to understand where they should start owning the bottom portion. A box around parallel will add that often needed external component to make you comfortable understanding where “ideal” is for you. Everyone is a tad different, but around parallel is a good place to start with the goblet squat to the box.

11.) The Stability Ball Goblet Squat – This was another movement that came out of the necessity for adaptation in a client that was weak and lacked the strength/body awareness to achieve proper squat depth. This variation has become a valuable tool for me in coaching the elderly and sedentary population who have father time and gravity working against their strength/mobility, and also present neurological perceived threat which stops them from moving into this depth just out of the blue. I love loading this variation with beginners who are almost ready for the elevated goblet box squat, but need to overcome some neurological hurdles to become comfortable with lower and lower depth. The stability ball provides a cushion and a failsafe component that tends to provide an extra push back up into the concentric portion of the exercise. For this reason, I give this to beginner clients who are new to exercise or have limitations that prevent optimal motion to perform the squat.

There we have it. The goblet squat displayed in 11 different ways. If you have any questions, ask us in the comments section below.

Also,

If you would enjoy distance coaching from us at a fraction the cost of personal training in your local gym, our January group opens very soon. –> Email us here <–

To learn more about us, we can be found doing cool stuff in the gym with and without our clients on instagram, and enjoy delivering daily knowledge bombs on twitter and Facebook.

Talk soon,

C.R.

The Biggest Problems With Your Offseason

November 18, 2015 by Chad Rodgers 1 Comment

I’ve got a bone to pick. A few actually..but as a relatively newish retired baseball player, I’ve grown to see my past, the current state of the game, and the future of the sport in a different light.

When playing, I had blinders on. I was totally wrapped up and obsessed in accomplishment and achieving the highest level of my own individual human potential that I could give two shits about anything anyone else was doing.

I was in love with the game and the process.

I’ve ironically been very hesitant getting back into the baseball world post career for a few reasons. The first is that I became psychologically bored and aggravated with the game. Loads of being on the “other side of the fence” so to speak with rehab and being sidelined due to injury has a way of making a player iritable and hungry for something else..anything else besides baseball.

Long road rehabilitation has a way of detaching a competitor from the game or at minimum, inducing reflection on his or her craft.

Thats what the journey back from Tommy John, several shoulder setbacks, and a hamstring tear will teach you. The compilation of the hours alone, not competing, and drooling to get back give you no choice but to reflect and watch the game from a distance. It’s either that or drive yourself nuts worrying and overanalyzing to the point of insanity. It’s like keeping a tiger in it’s cage with all the necessary items to survive but not thrive. Taking competition away from a competitor is frustrating.

Anyways, being away has allowed me to see clearly the mistakes I’ve made, in addition to things I did really, really well which kept me in possession of a job as long as I possibly could have.

This is key because baseball is not a game of perfection. It is not linear. It is abstract, strange, and messy. It will screw the player who thinks it should be perfect. It will reward the player who respects it but doesn’t bow to it.

Unfortunately, I was one of those players who thought it should be perfect. I wanted the work I put in to be directly equal to the outcome I saw on the field. As I said before, the game is messy and doesn’t really mesh well with perfectionists and over achievers at all.

From being away for awhile, I see clearly the gaps that need filled in the game. I see what the underachievers do wrong, and I see where the overachievers screw themselves.

The ones that lie somewhere in the middle are the ones that survive. They are the ones that are rewarded in the game of baseball, and I suspect other sports as well.

Here’s one of those “gaps”..

Enter the offseason…A clean slate…A time to rejuvenate, relax, and recharge….right?….Kinda. The game goes on without you whether you like it or not. It’s a brutal business, and everyone who ever plays has a day when the game says it’s time to hang em up. As a ballplayer you have a pre-sized window in which you can either optimize your potential or spit it out like like a sunflower seed from the dugout on an August afternoon.

There are ceilings.

We haven’t found what they are yet, and YOU certainly haven’t discovered them in your athletic career unless of course you have truly given your soul to discover what the best of the performance world has to offer.

A big step, in my experience, is having a plan for when the season is over that basically outlines how to dominate the next one.

The following is a list of 4 ways many baseball players sabotage their offseason, and give away their potential to the universe along with solutions to mitigate the issues…

Most of your problems are as follows. Listen up baseballers..

1.) You don’t begin your preparation soon enough. – When the season ends, there is no question there are issues to resolve from a fitness standpoint, a movement standpoint, and likely a rehabilitation and arm care standpoint. I know the last thing you want to do the day after the season ends is get back in the gym, but the reality is your window closes on your human potential one day at a time…and it closes faster than you think.

No, this doesn’t mean go squat the world and run 10 miles on day one, but you should already have a plan of action. On day one or very soon their after, you need to get to work on your weaknesses. You must solve your aches and pains, and you must have a plan of action with your nutrition and strength/conditioning.

Action Step – Before your season ends, have a plan for how your offseason will evolve. Some questions that need answered are –

Where will I be training? Is it the best place available for the resources I have and have access to? Where will I throw once my throwing program begins?

On what date will I begin my skill work, my throwing program, and strength & conditioning program? Will this give me plenty of time to be more than prepared?

What are the core issues I need to address with my body and mind to make myself a better player?

What are the issues in my game that need improvement?

What are the nutritional deficiencies and gaps that I have? Do I need to gain muscle mass and weight or lose weight and become more fit?

What weight do I feel best playing at? What are my goals in this game, and how can next season get me closer?

Write these questions down. They all need to be answered before the offseason begins.

2.) You don’t get started soon enough on your skill work – Improving your weaknesses in the game can be a humbling experience. It’s like the cold. We avoid it at all costs, and seek the warm comfort. The same goes for sports. If we are good at throwing curveballs, we tend to throw a ton in practice to boost our egos. If we are a good hitter but a horse shit infielder, we find comfort in staying in the cage taking b.p. We stay away from the cold that is our weaknesses. Deliberate effort on the weak parts of our game is a grueling but necessary step during the offseason months.

The season sneaks up on you before you know it, so you better have some of these deficiencies addressed whether it’s hitting to the opposite field, a pickoff move to first base or getting a jump when stealing a base. If you’re not any better than you were at the end of last season, you don’t deserve a spot on the team or a job in your organization. It’s a simple as that. Brutal truth, but it’s the truth nonetheless.

Get to work and progress toward efficiency at these weaknesses as the offseason progresses. The physical issues like mobility restrictions, imbalances, and strength and conditioning improvement should be priority number one at the beginning, however.

3.) Your nutrition doesn’t have performance or even health in mind – Fellow Show Me Strength writer, and resident nutrition expert, Andrew Ferreira has written extensively on this topic as it pertains to performance in the baseball sphere.

5 Strategies For Winning the Minor League Nutrtion Battle on Eric Cressey’s website <– Part one

5 Strategies For Winning the Minor League Nutrition Battle on Eric Cressey’s website <– Part two

10 Nutrition Thoughts For the MLB Offseason

I don’t need to delve further into the subject, as A.F. has written everything that you need to get started and successfully dominate the nutrition aspect of the season and offseason for baseball.

It’s a huge issue, however because you keep showing up to camp looking less than intimidating, and your insides aren’t functioning in a way that promotes performance.

In baseball, we must control the controllables which clearly means that we need to keep eating with on field and in gym performance/recovery in mind. As I said before, the door closes fast on your time to make a mark in the game, so you wouldn’t want to cite poor eating habits as a reason why you never reached your maximum potential.

Give those reads above some thought and start eating like a savage on a mission.

4.) You’re training doesn’t evolve with the spring in mind – There is nothing wrong with training hard and heavy as a baseball player. The timing of going hard and heavy, however, matters quite a bit.

I am guilty as charged with making the mistake of training too slow and too heavy late in a few of my offseason’s. As a result, I had a hard time feeling explosive right out of the gate in spring training. This was my own wrong doing, as I just love to lift heavy, but got caught up in pushing that specific training envelope too far into my winter.

The early winter months (typically Nov, Dec, Jan) long before your first practice is the time to make significant strength improvement. Waiting too long to train hard or continuing to train heavy too close to go time can cause you to be slow and unprepared as an explosive athlete on the field.

Here is a bare bones, simple guide to structuring your offseason training. This is by no means a specific program, but as a baseball player, you need to appreciate the different stages in the off-season process.

Beginning “restorative phase” (First 4-6 weeks) – Restore mobility and soft tissue restrictions. Take care of pain. Dial in nutrition as well as caffeine reliance. Begin strength and conditioning ramping toward the middle phase. Pick a date to get started on a throwing program, and build your body and prepare your arm accordingly. Get on a solid sleep schedule. Starting on day one of your offseason, you need to start the process of resetting your body after a long season that has deteriorated your health. Foam rolling alone might get you sweating, but that’s exactly why you must get started right away.

Middle “gains phase” (The middle chunk of your offseason. At least a month after the restorative phase, and ending around 4-8 weeks weeks before your first official team practice.) Primary focus on strength development, energy systems development, arm strength, and throwing volume. This is where the deposits are made into your performance bank account. This is where you make the biggest changes to your body and your capabilities in terms of resiliency and performance. These winter months will make or break your offseason, and will truly determine if you reach your potential or not. By now you should be getting significantly stronger, more powerful, and more healthy. You should be eating with your goals in mind, and sleeping/recovering like a beast. Leading into the final phase, you should be moving optimally, have plenty of applicable strength for the sport, and be free of nagging pains. This will be huge as you dedicate the next phase to working yourself into game shape.

End or “refinery phase” (Last 8-12 weeks before spring training, tryouts, or first practice) – Primary focus on skill work, explosive/speed work, maintaining strength gains, and increasing arm speed. In my experience, this is the most fun part of the offseason if timed correctly. There were a couple situations where I pushed my strength end of the continuum too hard and got started too late on the refinery phase. Big mistake. On the flip side, when I did time it right, I went into this stage excited and more than prepared for the ensuing skill, speed, and refinery work. This is the time to start ramping up the sprint work to a appropriate level, increase your intensity off the mound, and get your swing dialed in. Strength work should be fast, not get you too sore, and mimic the explosiveness required on the field. Of course we are still hammering the mobility and soft tissue stuff, but more from a maintenance standpoint. Everything you do at this stage should be geared around feeling good, feeling fast, and feeling ready for the demands at your position. You’ve put the plan in place, done the restorative work on your imbalances and restriction. You’ve put on applicable strength. Now’s the time to become the athlete.

Don’t screw up these phases.

Know the time to ramp, train, and refine the animal you intend to be this season.

If you need more help, we’ll be right here showmestrength.com/coaching

Monday Motivation!

November 9, 2015 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

You can catch updates about our training, and learn more on our philosophies on becoming awesome on the field and off at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The Animal Within – How to Breath Like Wim Hof via Mike Cernovich of Danger & Play – Known for his record breaking time spent in ice baths, marathons with no water, and other incredible feats of endurance and pain tolerance, it has been proven that Wim is not a freak of nature. Instead, he has learned how to train his and other people’s mindset to harness the immeasurable power of the brain. He was also able to defeat infection after being injected with endotoxins by breathing and tapping into the immune system via the brain. Crazy but true. We have no idea what we are truly capable of.

A couple of his most powerful interviews were on Tim Ferris and Joe Rogan’s Podcasts. His method for training the mind is here <–

A Retired Navy Seal Breaks Down His Morning Fitness Routine That Starts Before Noon via Richard Feloni of Insider – A great book that I can recommend to anyone, especially someone who considers themselves a leader is Extreme Ownership from retired Navy Seal, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.

I first heard Jocko on Tim Ferris podcast, where he talked about his book and performing at a high level in business and life even after his first career. His mantra, discipline=freedom really made a ton of sense to me, especially in areas I need improvement on. Take a listen to this podcast, and follow his badass twitter where he talks about his early mornings and workouts.

Simple Examples Of Thinking Differently by Wall Street Playboys – It is only natural to subconsciously follow others and accepted behavior in the culture around you. The way you critically think and respond to things is a result of what others have taught you is the “best” way to go about things. This article shows how thinking outside the box about your thinking and reacting to certain situations can be powerful and transformational.

Intelligent Core Finishers (Part 1)

July 30, 2015 by Chad Rodgers 5 Comments

There’s not a much more satisfying feeling in fitness than waking up with some nice sore abs from your workout the previous day.

I’ll happily attest to that, as I’ve never been one to naturally have abs carved out of stone and a super low body fat percentage. <– (Beer and too much chipotle have a lot to do with that too) Even though I absolutely know that ripped abs are 95 percent eating, recovery, and genetics, I enjoy my abs being sore, just as I do other parts of my body the day after training.

Everyone needs the feeling that they accomplished something at the gym, and moved slightly closer to the body and health they desire. It’s good for morale.

As I mentioned here in a Facebook video post yesterday, people are always looking for ways to “burnout” or make their abs look better through exercise. As a coach, it’s my job #1 get my student to see and feel results, and #2 do it in an intelligent manner that is best for health and performance in the real world. I understand that the abs are the part of the body that makes most people self conscious, and when folks come to me asking for great ways to train their core, whats my answer?

I mean sit-ups till failure will definitely get you sore, but is it in the best interest for long term performance and health? Probably not..

Russian twists will hammer your obliques, but is it going to make you lose your love handles, make you more athletic, and give you ripped abs? Not a chance.

Any dipshit trainer can make your abs sore, but it’s the great instructors that can make you feel better, look better, move better AND get you sore…..all at the same time.

The bottom line is that for me to be a trustworthy, competent, and successful coach, I must satisfy my clients, but do it in a manner that is effective, challenging, healthy, and fun.

In part one of Intelligent Core Finishers, I detail a few exercise combinations that will leave your abs worked, but in a way that is smart from a performance and health standpoint.

A good trainer and strength coach will always train their client’s abdominals from a real world performance point of view. They take into consideration one’s lifestyle, current resting posture when hanging out (both standing, sitting, and moving), and obviously appreciate one’s health/performance/physique goals.

When it comes to all things athletic performance when dealing with abdominals, my goto resource is Mike Robertson. He understands the mechanics of the spine, and the surrounding muscles that keep us performing and moving well. Here is a great read from him on 21st century core training

If I’m working with someone 3x/week, based on what I see from a postural standpoint, I make it a point to train their midsection accordingly. If their aren’t any glaring issues, I’ll train their core in 3 different ways throughout the week (Anti-Extension, Anti-Lateral Flexion, and Anti-Rotation), and make sure the rest of their program challenges their core (fuck I’m sick of that word) in ways that suit their individual needs. If you don’t express to your client that this is the proper way to train, and that abs are made mainly in the kitchen, you’ll wind up with a frustrated person who will sneak off and do crunches when you’re not looking.

If you’re successful in breaking down the mechanics of great abdominal training and get your client on board with what you know is right, you’ll end up with a very strong, very healthy, and potentially shredded individual in the long run.

However, with that being said, you should always train your torso for health and performance first, but having sore abs is still necessary and important at times.

Here are some creative ways in part one to end your training session with more ab work, designed intelligently for your longterm health.

#1.) AB WHEEL ROLLOUT + BODYSAW COUNTDOWNS –

Planks on steroids are what you going experience in this one. Here, we are training the anti-extension aspect part of your spine. We are resisting the force that is trying to pull us down into excessive spine extension. On both of these exercises, it’s important to brace you core and glutes hard, simultaneously. This will keep your whole body tight, allowing you to go through full range of motion with a nice neutral spine position.

In this finisher, I like using the countdown method. You’ll pick a set number of reps for both movements, lets say 8. You’ll start with 8 ab wheel rollouts, then switch over to 8 body saws . Rest for a few seconds, then go back to ab wheel rollouts for 7 reps, then body saw for 7…and all the way down to 1 rep. By giving yourself this little break and switching exercises, you never really get to the point of poor form or failure. Pick a smaller number to start out if you’re new to these exercises, but keep this countdown method in mind. It’s fun, you’ll feel an incredible burn, and you’ll train yourself way smarter and harder than anyone else at the gym. You’ll need a ab wheel or barbell w/plates, and Valslides or as I used here, folded paper towels for the body saw.

#2) TRX BUSDRIVERS + TRX FLUTTERS –

Here is another anterior core/anti-extension combo. Again, I love the countdown method for this one. I started with 10 reps on both sides of the bus driver (top video), then took a couple seconds and proceeded to do 10 reps on each side for flutters. Not only are you getting serious ab work here, but your arms are getting a helluva workout too. Bracing here is important as you can see. Without proper tension, you’ll just collapse that spine. By thinking of squeezing your ribs down and holding your glutes in, if you’re strong, and ready for something new and challenging, you’ll enjoy this finisher. In the bus driver, you’ll use the TRX to make a big arc with locked out arms like a windshield wiper or big bus steering wheel. Flutters are best by starting with a pushup position with arms locked out right under your shoulders.

#3) ONE ARM FARMERS CARRIES + 10 SECOND SIDE PLANK

Here we are resisting lateral flexion of the spine. These exercises are way more effective and efficient than your traditional side bends, Russian twists, and side crunches. You’ll get the added benefit of getting your heart rate up with the heavy walk, and way more intense fatigue in your obliques when you do a strict side plank against the wall. Notice how I walk very upright and tight with the dumbbell off my body. Im trying to resist that flexion of the weight pulling me down. If you’re struggling to keep the weight off your leg or failing to stay tall, it’s to heavy. The heavier the weight, the tougher it is to stay out of lateral flexion. Walk 75-90ft with the DB in one arm then get to the ground against the wall for a 10 second side plank with deep inhale and hard exhaled breaths for even more activation. Stand up, switch hands, and walk back down to the next wall 75-90 ft away. I like to do 3-5 rounds/side in assistance to my lift to feel like I met my “abdominal quota” for the day. It won’t burn off your love handles, but you’ll be sore in that area for sure.

#4 OVERHEAD DUMBBELL PULLOVERS + MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

This is a fun one because it combines some heavy duty anti-extension work as well as some faster anterior (front) core pump. The biggest mistake I see with people performing pullovers (the top video) is that they are always arching their back to reach further back with the dumbbell. While you’re still getting good lat activation and development potential, why not keep those glutes turned on and resist those ribs from popping up? It’s way more bang for your buck. Notice my ribs staying down on the pullover. It’s because I’m squeezing the hell out of my abs and ass. Use these as a superset pairing or continue to use the countdown method. I guarantee you’ll get more than just your abs working on these two.

#5) KNEELING BAND ANTI-ROTATION CHOP + KNEELING BAND PALOFF PRESS

Here is our first anti-rotation pairing. This one is perfect to do counting down, because traditionally you’re arms will give out before you’re core starts rotating, so you’ll need that extra few seconds and less reps as you go to end up having a long set to achieve that fatigue you’re after. Important cues here are keeping you’re belly button in the same place the entire movement as well as locking your abs in like you’re bracing for a punch to the gut. Keep you’re butt engaged as well. Arms must be locked out the entire time for the anti-rotation chops (left video), and always get your ams locked out at the end of each Paloff press rep.

Give some of these pairings a try instead of your crunches and twists, and other exercises that will compromise posture and spine health. If you’re an athlete, you better be worried more about performance than physique, so these exercises have some huge value for you. If you’re just looking for new core exercises and consider yourself pretty experienced with some strongish abs, these will deliver what your’e looking for as well.

I will be back soon with Part 2…

Stay tuned

C.R.

6 Weeks to Shredded 2.0

July 2, 2015 by Andrew Ferreira Leave a Comment

After much debate, Chad and I have decided to re-open our 6 Weeks to Shredded program. It’s not that we had any concern over whether or not our methodology worked because it did. In fact, when we first devised the program I remarked to Chad that the science is too good to fail. Obviously, getting shredded is an art that encompasses far more than just nerd speak and understanding how to ramp up fat loss on overdrive but you catch my drift.

We engaged in weeks of endless debates because we weren’t sure the general public could handle the tweaks we made to the program. You see 6 Weeks to Shredded 1.0 was a real bastard.

Save me the feel good stories about fat loss being this slow gradual process. Getting shredded is a whole other animal and doing it with pace requires a whole lot of dedication, sacrifice, and suffering. If you were weak or weren’t all in, version 1.0 would have kicked your ass and left you one broken man.

With our revamped version, if you aren’t dedicated to transforming your body in ways impossible to imagine, then you will be destroyed. Let me repeat that, you will be DESTROYED. If you choose to suffer the fate of the latter, trust me Chad or I won’t feel bad. Adapt or die. Suffer and do everything we say to the T and we promise you will emerge a different creature at the end of 6 weeks.

I welcome you to undergo the process with me. In about a week’s time, my brother and I are going to engage in a quest to get shredded. Not, just “woah that guy has abs” shredded but “Holy shit, I see striations in that motherfucker’s oblique” shredded.

My body composition has seen some dramatic shifts over the past 10 or 11 months. Below, you will see the end of the my 2 week cut experience at around 211 lbs. Fast forward, 7 or 8 months and there you will see where I am at now around 235. The goal is to be 220 lbs and shredded.

Operation reincarnate John Rocker is in full effect. Up to 235-240ish from 215-220 in August. #juggernaut #moremassmoregas #testosterone #bodybuilding #powerlifting #fuckhashtags

A photo posted by Chad Rodgers & Andrew Ferreira (@showmestrength) on Jan 16, 2015 at 3:39pm PST

Here are some other results from our first run with the program from last summer.

Limited Availability

We’ve decided to cap the program at 8 clients so act now before spots fill up.

To find out more about the qualifications you must fall under before being eligible for the program, read this.

If you’re all good on that front, email showmestrength@gmail.com with the headline “Get Shredded” and tell us why you’d be a good fit for our program.

With much love, pain, and suffering to come,

A.F.

5 Reasons your Baseball Team is Full of “Dad Bods”

May 21, 2015 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

If there is one sport that totally encapsulates the “dad bod” phenomenon, it is baseball. It’s just one of those activities that doesn’t take tremendous fitness prowess to be great at. In fact, while it might seem like baseball players look fit (uniforms hide a lot), for the most part they are just skilled at specific activities.

Baseball is an equal mix fine motor skill, years of accumulated development and learning, and decent athleticism. The leanest, strongest, buffest, and most athletic looking guys are not generally the best baseball players. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, I would estimate that an average body fat percentage for a typical professional baseball team is somewhere in the 15-17% range. That’s your average Joe walking the street.

If you haven’t come to hear of “dad bod” phenomenon, some brilliantly average college girl wrote about the advantages of dating this type of guy. First, to give credit where credit is due, she defined this type of guy perfectly. Her definition is as follows…

The dad bod is defined as the type of physique that shows…“I go to the gym occasionally, but I also drink heavily on the weekends and enjoy eating eight slices of pizza at a time.”

She hit the nail on the head with that one. I’ll give her that. We’ve been trying to find the perfect definition here in modern society for a while now.

The article goes further into defending this type of soft-bodied male, sparking several shake my head in disappointment comments that I will let you read here. –>http://theodysseyonline.com/clemson/dad-bod/97484 If you’re a guy, and you want to be successful with the opposite sex, you’ll be fine if you do exactly the opposite of what she claims is attractive. Trust me.

Back to baseball…

Our lifestyle as baseball players is extremely conducive to becoming soft bodied. It’s happened to me, and I’m not here to hate, just point out facts. Some of the best baseball players who ever lived look like they never touched a weight or consumed a vegetable. Some don’t appear healthy in the slightest, but they manage to stay on the field and crush it.

The vast majority, however, epitomize the dad bod because of a few big external factors. They are..

1.) Pathetic Eating and Food Choices – If someone doesn’t have to do something to survive, it is unlikely that one will consistently do that certain thing. What do I mean? It isn’t completely necessary to becoming a great baseball player, and survive and thrive as a professional to eat superbly healthy all the time, so most just don’t do it. They do whats convenient and affordable. Do I think eating optimally would improve a player’s health and wellness? Absolutely. Do I think it will help a player throw more strikes or hit for a higher average? Not so much. In my experience, the players who are the least neurotic about working out and eating tend to do the best. It’s probably because their mind is more free of clutter and worry than those of us who sweat even the smallest of details.

Anyways, baseball players, especially minor leaguers, are put in positions all day every day to make less than desirable nutrition choices at each meal. Fast food is often your only option, and uber processed turkey after batting practice every day just can’t be good for that half fat, half abs midsection on a typical ball player. Even more, being ravenous after a game at 11pm with 20 boxes of pizza waiting for the team will crush even the most disciplined athlete. Believe me.

2.) Piss Poor Sleep Schedule and Oversleeping – If it’s you’re job to be at your best physically and mentally between the hours of 7:00-10:00 P.M. then you can imagine a professional baseball player won’t have your “typical” and normal circadian rhythm patterns. Combine this with trying to force sleep on busses, planes, and hotels at atypical hours, and you have a recipe for compensation with too much afternoon sleep and caffeine from absurd amounts of energy drinks and coffee. My off-seasons were as if I was a totally different person with totally different demands and surroundings. I trained hard, ate well, and slept normally, then once the season started it was like everything in the baseball world’s power pulls you away from doing those three things.

3.) Lack of Quality Movement – I admire and love to death the strength and conditioning coaches, trainers, and physical therapists in professional baseball. They accept jobs to work long hours helping kids who are prized investments of very large companies. They accept this job with the understanding that they will be paid like shit for an opportunity to work with some of the world’s most skilled athletes. Baseball, unfortunately, is still a sport spinning its rear wheels in the old school ways of approaching health and fitness. Young players are still getting hurt at a high percentage, and millions are still being wasted on guys chilling in the locker room slouched over chic-fila breakfast biscuits wiping crumbs off their crappy moving and looking body. Some of my best friends have been made in the weight room and at the training table, and many are on the other end, fighting the good fight against baseball “norms” that promote stagnation and deterioration of athleticism. Things like standing around, sitting around, laying around, and riding around for hours and hours, then being expected to go perform tasks on the baseball field that simply wreck a healthy body is too overwhelming of a task for even the best trainers and strength coaches.

4.) Alcohol – One of the greatest things in the world is having a beer at the bar with teammates after a hard-earned victory. Nothing brings a team closer than the camaraderie of post game shenanigans. Checking out girls, slugging down a few cold ones, raising hell, it’s the best, it really is. There’s a saying that is so true about baseball players…”All we do when we are playing is talk about last night out after the game. All we do when we are out is talk about that day at the field.” The friendships created and the “fraternity” type environment cultivated on successful teams almost always involves alcohol on some level. I’d argue that without the bond of going out with the boys and reminiscing over the day’s baseball activities that a team would fail, every time. Is it good for the body? Not a chance. Is it good for recovery? Hell to the no. Is it good for winning as a team? I’d argue, yes. The body suffers from alcohol. We know this. Hormones get bent over and screwed. Fat loss get halted and diverted in it’s tracks. Recovery becomes delayed like a flight out of Boston in January. Crushing beers after a game, and on a belly full of post game mystery meat and pasta is a recipe for an optimal, glowing “dad bod.”

5.) Lack of Optimal In-Season and Even Off-Season Programming – A decent amount great players work their fucking tail off in the offseason. They heal from the previous season’s wear and tear, and train at a high level during the winter months. The best players seek out great coaches like Eric Cressey to program for them outside of what an organization will hand out to every player at the end of the season. It’s all about the edge, and resources delivered to strength coaches within organizations simply aren’t enough for minor leaguers looking to get to the big leagues. You would think otherwise, but if it weren’t for guys like Cressey, most players would fail to take advantage of offseason opportunities for improvement. In season workout programs are a totally different animal. I was fortunate enough throughout my career to receive programs from the most sought after baseball strength coach in the world. I would visit the northeast every winter to make the most out of my off-seasons. Eric Cressey would also program for me despite my in-season hectic, weak, injury provoking, dad bod conducive situation that is the minor leagues. Teams do a really awful job of monitoring their investments in the offseason. That must be noted. When the season comes, strength coaches and trainers have no clue about what a player did for the previous 5-6 months. They just “expect” that the kid is in shape and didn’t fuck around for 5 months like most 20 somethings do. When spring training begins, even the best strength coaches and trainers are caught in a shit storm of rigid scheduling and agenda. Players sneak by with little to no real work on their bodies or health. They get on the field and they get off, and I feel that almost everyone who doesn’t take it upon themselves to go against the grain, loses a step in their true potential.

My colleague, trusted friend, and fellow Showmestrength.com writer/consultant, Andrew Ferreira will be back soon with a follow up to this article via an action plan..Stay tuned.

Student Spotlight : Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is by Hanna Riley

April 1, 2015 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

A note from Chad – “Hanna and I started our training journey a little over 5 months ago now. She frequented one of the gyms I work at, and right away upon seeing her was impressed by her quiet determination to train hard. You just don’t see that very often anymore. She also moved so well through difficult exercises even before I got to her, so I immediately knew she would be a very fun challenge in regards to programming for such a skilled person physically. It’s very rare to get athletes (and I see everyone as an athlete in their own way) who combine their innate physical gifts with sheer determination to get better each day. Those people are special. Hanna is special. She is a great person, wonderfully caring friend, and a very, very strong willed, physically gifted woman who impresses me more and more each day.”

Without further ado, Hanna take take the mic…

There’s an oft-quoted line by Shakespeare that might be one of his most famous of all, “Though she be but little, she is fierce!” Little certainly can pack a punch, and as small as they might seem, the following six letters have left a rather large mark on me: t-h-e g-y-m.

The gym used to just be a place I drove past. That’s all it was, just a pile of bricks with lots of bars and ‘bells and boxes and benches, and weights that just sat there strangely. The only gym I knew was portable in the sense that it came in the form of a hot pink yoga mat, always at the ready to be unrolled to receive my bare feet, my grounded palms, my upside down self. For a solid seven years yoga studio floors were the only thing I felt underneath my body as I bent, folded, twisted and balanced in every direction possible. A decade steeped in yoga has also taught me much beyond bending, including the deep inner practice of contentment, yet what brought me to the doorstep of a bona fide gym was intense inner discontent and a highly honed self-criticism skill worthy of a gold medal. My critical perception of myself makes me squirm, but I credit my propensity toward commitment plus what I had learned of karma, or action (essentially, the sage advice of “put your money where your mouth is”) with armoring me in the bravery and hope it took to venture out of the world I knew into the curious-looking woods of Something New.

Yoga had taught me (among many lessons) to honor and be grateful for my body in a way that I had previously never been exposed to. How I even got there was 19-year-old me stumbling into a gym- after never having been aligned with a physical discipline in any way, no sports, no dancing, no exercise, nothing- bereft in deep heartbreak, thinking, I’ve gotta do something. At that time my body had become the only thing I felt like I could control in a chaotic time and, like a sad statistic and a story you’ve heard too many times, I danced around the edges of anorexia, dropping to 100 pounds and obsessively eating less than 1,000 calories a day. In the newness of the gym I frequented the corner that had the scale in it and I flirted with running and some eight-pound weights for a few months. It was there I found yoga, falling madly in love and dedicating my life (and my eventually no-longer-100-pounds body) to the practice. That practice is still very much my cornerstone, and I have been teaching for the last ten years. But as miraculous as I’d come to view my body as, standing on my head, standing on my hands as solidly as my feet, my body with it’s inconceivably amazing systems, like a universe within, the temple for my soul… All that, yet my mind still struggled with loving my outer form, like wrestling a very cranky alligator. These feelings started long before I earned 19 years of age- I vividly recall wrapping duct tape around my ribcage when I was in elementary school, trying to look, feel, be smaller than I was. What’s most perplexing about that is I’ve never not been averagely-sized, nor had anyone in my life ever taught me to feel physically inferior. It was just some nasty, craggy barnacle I picked up along the way and hadn’t succeeded in scraping off yet. What was different now than 10, 14, 18, 26 was I really, really, really, really wanted to do something about it. At 27 I spent a year committed to five days a week of cardio. I learned, as I’ve learned before, as I keep learning most every day, that I am a hard worker. You can call me many things, intense being one of them, but committed another. At 28 I started getting scientific about the food I chewed up and swallowed. I became a slave to measuring and while that gave me some sense of control and purpose it also stockpiled worry and alienation, toward myself and others. I believe that many people can pull that specificity of diet off with ease and calm, but I haven’t been able to achieve that gracefulness yet.

As 28 turned into 29, during my three days a week spent in my neighborhood gym, away from my yoga mat (that’s all it felt like at the time- time away from my yoga mat), I found I was starting to need heavier weight. I needed a squat rack, somehow I just knew this. As much as I loathed the prospect of venturing out of my often-private gym, and I put it off for months, it was those two words that finally made me cave: squat rack. That, and four other words: ten dollars a month. I could swing that, I reasoned, ten bucks for one day a week out there in the wild abyss that was sweating around other people…

Little did I know that squat rack would become my siren call.

I hear it now, calling me, Hanna… Hanna… Grip me, that cold metal barbell says, perched all alluringly on its rack like a beautiful woman. Duck under me. You like that feeling, don’t you? Yes. Place me against you. Look at your own eyes in the mirror. Close them. Exhale. Open them. Tell yourself you’ve got this. Stand on your tip toes. Push me up. Step backward. Take me under your own control. Get set. Sink down. Explode up. Like there’s a great white shark under your ass (a personal favorite from my coach’s mouth). But at that time, ten months ago, the squat rack didn’t talk to me like that. It said, oh look, the rookie’s here. Damn right I’m a rookie, I said, but a yoga teacher I once had taught me, “do not despise the days of small beginnings.”

The point of all this back story (and, God help me, there’s more) is this: when I reached for my first dumbbell, it was out of desperate hope that it might be my salvation. This would later turn into fierce dedication, but that treasure was yet to be discovered. What I want to cry out to you is this: I did not trip and fall into the gym already athletic, I did not skip in carefree. I was strong to a point, honed in a way from the skillful practice of the art of yoga, deeply body aware, but mentally weak (between my ears is still my weakest link). I did not slide in seamlessly amongst the Hammer Press machines and 45 pound plates, the confident girl, the ex-track star, a PR holder at my high school, no. I was the girl who got in a car accident at 17 and felt like she’d won the lottery when she got to, thanks to a note from her chiropractor, sit out of gym class for a marking period. All I had, and I realize this story parallels many people’s stories, was my willingness and my work ethic. Pretty soon my neighborhood gym was a thing of the past. My nerves and neuroses still walked over the threshold and the mud mat with me, but I started to crave the clanging, the people, the energy, the accountability, the inspiration. Enter: my coach. You may all know him here as a showmestrength guru, but all I knew him as was a guy who quite possibly may have had a backwards ball cap surgically attached to his head, but boy did he look like he knew what he was doing. Lone wolf that I am, hermit that I can tend to be, opening my space to him wasn’t exactly easy, but I am so glad he’s on my team now. He uses words like potential and athlete and strong, all in conjunction with my name. He’s taught me that you should never (ever) have hundred dollar shoes and a ten cent squat. He’s asked me to eat like I mean it, sleep like I mean it, treat myself like a Ferrari, feel the weight and commit to it, trust myself, trust him, that the greatest ones know how to turn it off and on like a light switch, and think act breathe dress walk talk like a major league player. I hear him in my head often. Coupled with his faith, intention, and eyes that can see things I can’t, I’ve held 200 pounds on my back and 300 pounds on my hips. I never knew I wanted a coach, I never knew that I needed one, but I did, and I do.

While I still press my kettlebells in hopes of a force-to-be-reckoned-with physique, I know, even more so now, what I knew before, that my greatest muscle lies beneath my hair, under my scalp, below my skull. My mind, your mind, our minds, can be our ally or our foe. Beyond thoughts though, I’ve put my money where my mouth is. I’ve worked toward something I wanted, and I still want. I showed up. A lot. I laced up, suited up, pulled-up, hair-tied-up, hopes up, pushed up, jumped up (one legged and two), woke up, and just basically did that shit up. Anything I have has been earned. I did it, but I didn’t do it alone.

What I realize much more clearly now as 29 is on the cusp of 30 is when I wrap myself around something, I sink my claws in. In the gym, those six letters that have become a most hallowed haven, it’s not just my hands that grip the barbell, it’s my heart. My spirit force deadlifts too, not just my glutes and hamstrings. I’m still a rookie, I still squirm sometimes, I occasionally try to wiggle around what’s been programmed, but I am braver, bolder, happier (happier!), more confident, more passionate about the days that mark my life, more unabashedly and unapologetically myself, and I daresay I’m even a little louder too. I have learned that stepping up to my deadlift requires my presence and fortitude just as the first Samasthiti asks me to ready myself and open myself to the coming yoga practice. It’s not such a black-and-white dividing line, it’s not just time in the gym or time on my yoga mat, because how you do anything is how you do everything. I am practicing the skill of being me anywhere and everywhere, whether my bare feet are on a sticky mat or my hands are clinging to the chin-up bar. My foray into the gym has reminded me that life is for creating and adventuring, and curiosity at what the truth really is. If there was once a time I thought I’d never step foot back into a gym with the sole purpose of picking heavy objects up off the ground, moving them around a little, then putting them back down, what else about myself is there to discover? I didn’t think I’d ever exercise for pleasure, not punishment, but here I am finding myself uplifted, mighty, and fulfilled. It’s not all roses and clover, though, believe me. In fact, it’s rarely roses and clover. Training is hard. It kicks me to the curb, it sometimes spits me back out. It reminds me there are higher peaks. Oh, you think you’re good? You think you’re fit? Watch this, it says. Watch her. Watch him. But that’s just the food chain, the trickle down effect, the honest-to-goodness reality that there will always be someone better than me in every category you could dream up. But. They’re not me. And I’m not you. As Carl Sagan says, “Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”

Though I be but little, I am fierce. Fierce… Those are six beautiful letters.

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More about the author :

Hanna Riley is a highly sought after yoga teacher in the southwest Florida area. She has been teaching the goodness of vinyasa yoga for 10 years, and is very passionate about human movement, art, and movement AS art. She loves breathing, sweating, bending, yoga-ing, crafting, creating, writing, cats, laughing so hard her face hurts, handstand, giving gifts, giving (and receiving) hugs, sprinting, lifting heavy objects, really loud music, and rainbow colored anything.

To learn more about more about her teaching, or to just tell her she’s pretty awesome, hit her up at hannarileyyoga@yahoo.com

How to Successful Train Women: 5 Keys to Master

January 30, 2015 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

I caught myself thinking the other day, “Holy shit..I train a lot of girls.” I mean, I know I train mostly women, but there have been some critical things I’ve had to adjust in my coaching style, beliefs, and programming so that I was consistently cultivating success and results for these hardworking ladies. They deserve it. They show up and trust me 100 percent to deliver workouts that will challenge them, but also give them confidence. With some of these key elements to consider when working with women, you can unlock their potential and set them free on a journey that will surely shatter their pre-conceived notions about working out, and give them the tools to love the hell out their new and improved body.

So this post is actually for both trainers and coaches who train women, and females who desire results without feeling the common pressures of personal training, as well as girls who are simply frustrated with their results.

One of the biggest things I’ve come to realize while working with numerous women is that they consider working out a highly personal, highly prioritized endeavor. No, this doesn’t mean they necessarily do the right things in the gym that optimize their chances of reaching goals, but if put in the right, and most comfortable situation, with the right guidance women will work their tail off for you, more so than most men.

Here are 5 ways that you can start achieving major results for your for your female clients, or yourself if you ladies prefer to work alone.

1) Realize that women have more stamina than men almost always – Every single one of my female clients I’ve had to slow down at some point from moving from exercise to exercise too fast. Now don’t get me wrong, this can be awesome for fat loss, but if strength improvement is your biggest problem to assess, you may need to back her down. It never ceases to amaze me when I see my girls bounce from a heavy squat to a heavy row and then back to squat like its no big deal. I think to myself, wow, I need 2-3 min sitting in between heavy sets, she’s putting me to shame! Well, always have her goal remain your goal. If fat loss is her biggest priority, by all means hop into the sets when you are ready, but never compromise reps or form because you or your client is out of breath. That is a mistake. Also, make it a point to slow down the girls who need to gain strength and muscle. Prioritize recovery periods in those cases.

2) Get their butt sore – Their is not a woman on the planet who doesn’t look at her butt everyday to critique or analyze. I’ll leave the science part up to Show Me Strength’s evolutionary biologist, Andrew Ferreira, but I don’t know any guy who likes a flat butt on their girl. This is always something I both work on, and maintain with every one of my female clients. I know that it’s a concern, and more importantly, I know the glutes, and firing them properly can propel a person into a radical acceleration of body transformation. I have to admit, undoubtedly, I have stolen some awesome exercises from the glute guy himself, Bret Contreras. This guy has been a humungous inspiration for me, and even in my clients for continuing to prove the fact that the most attractive and appealing women on the planet can lift heavy, and still look incredible. Ill just leave these here, but just remember if they can do it, you can too.

Bret’s Booty Blasting Protocol <– Hip thrust like crazy. The glutes are the largest muscle group, therefore you need to take full advantage of crushing them. They can take it. Here is a great little glute finisher to try out if you or your client are up for it.

Operation Get Strong & Sexy <– I love my girls lifting heavy with great form and confidence. This video by Bret is a great reference point for all women who are starting to love lifting. See? These girls aren’t big and bulky from moving heavy weights!

Fit Ladies Using Hip Thruster <– I’m very jealous of this contraption. I need it, and I needed it yesterday. You want a better butt? Well, start here. I’m convinced that glute bridging and different loading schemes with hip thrusts are among the top few ass exercises, arguably the best.

3) Don’t overwhelm them with information. They don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care – I hate to break it to you, but if you are going to spend time talking about how much you can bench or your fancy shamncy training certifications or how in shape your other clients are, you aren’t going to do much selling. Become their biggest fan and dedicate yourself to doing whatever it takes to get them the results they need. It really shouldn’t matter if you like coaching certain exercises or not. Every single thing you program for your clients should be getting them a step closer to where they want to be. If it’s not, check yo self.

4) Slowly turn pavement pounders into metal movers – I truly believe that there is a time and place for long distance, steady state cardio. In fact one of the best coaches in our industry, Mike Robertson, wrote about it extensively here <–. However, true, and long term physique improvement must include a significant amount of weight training. So how are you going to convince a girl that she needs to squat, deadlift, push and pull, and load it heavy? TRUST and PATIENCE. Above every other point you takeaway, the most crucial element is building confidence. Make them super successful at goblet squatting or dumbbell deadlifting. It’s a big mistake to jump under the bar with an untrained female client. Slowly hammer away at mastering basic movement patterns, and get them incrementally stronger and stronger until theres is absolutely no doubt they will be successful with the barbell. Once you have them making clear and obvious progress, you’ll be on your way to having a client forever. Be patient.

5) Everyday is different. Be ready to adjust – Girls are completely different creatures than us men, I think we can all agree with that. This absolutely means that you need to take a different approach to coaching them successfully. We don’t have to deal with certain hormonal fluctuations that women do, and if you don’t think it affects their training, you are mistaken. Some days a girl’s body just doesn’t want to train super hard. You need to develop open communication and convey understanding so you can still get a productive training effect from them. On paper, it might be a crazy heavy lower body day, and she might have awful cramps or just feel fatigued from it being that time of the month. Don’t just tell her to suck it up. Adjust your programs accordingly. Maybe do some extra movement based stuff, but always have them leaving feeling better than when they got there. If you can do that, then you’ll be successful.